The invention relates to hair styling devices, methods and systems. More specifically, this invention relates to a hair styling devices, methods and systems for securing and retaining a portion of hair.
Hair styling often involves manipulating hair into a preferred orientation or style and securing the hair in that preferred orientation or style. Typical devices include barrett devices and loop securing devices. All of these types of device secure sections of hair by wrapping around a selected tuft or strand of hair.
Videtzky in U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,421 describes a device with two co-acting circular helical coils with a pocket between the two co-acting coils. The device is screwed into the user""s hair and strands of the hair are held between pockets formed by the coils and pass through the pockets. Webster in U.S. Pat. No. 2,455,715 describes a spiral shaped hair support and retaining device that is place over the users hair and encircles an entire coiffure of hair. The device is held in position through tension applied to the users head through the device. Larken in U.S. Pat. No. 482,257 describes a spiral hair pin that is used to hold a piece of jewelry or other ornament in the user""s hair. The spiral design affords the pin greater holding power when inserted into the user""s hair. In the U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,228, issued to McGee, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,755, issued to Crabtree et al., spiral hair clasps that are configured to fit around a strand of hair are described.
Other patents describe spiral hair styling devices that are configured to accept hair into the channel of spiral and securing the hair therein. Examples include, U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,856, issued to Weeks, U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,054, issued to Liberman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,504, issued to Neilson et al, French publication No. 2,631,527 and French publication No. 2,490,939. These and other hair styling devices are attached around a strand of to hold the strand of hair or to decorate the strand of hair. What is need is a hair styling device that is configured to secure and retain a section or bundle of hair in a preferred position on the user""s head.
The current invention is directed to a device, system and method for styling hair. The device of the invention is a hair pin with a spiral body section. Preferably, at least one end of the body section is tapered or pointed for assisting in the threading of the hair pin through the hair. Preferably, the other opposite end of the spiral body section is configured to catch hair or to resist threading through the hair. The cross-section of the spiral body can have any number of shapes. The body section cross-section is constant or varied. Preferably, the spiral body section has a circular and substantially constant cross-section with a diameter in the range of 0.25 and 1.5 cm.
The device is formed from any material, but is preferably resilient such that the body section is capable of being reversibly deformed, compress and or expanded. The device is preferably formed as a single molded piece from a resilient material such as plastic, rubber, polyurethane or other suitable resilient material.
In accordance, with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the hair pin spirals from a bottom spiral section having larger radii of rotation to a top spiral section having smaller radii of rotation and with the tapered or pointed end correspond to the bottom spiral section. The spiral body section comprises two or more revolution in the spiraling direction and spirals clockwise or counter clockwise from the tapered or pointed bottom end.
The spiral body section is elongated and forms a substantially uniform cone shape with an inner spiral region. The cone angle of the substantially uniform cone shape is in the range of 120 and 10 degrees. The elongated spiral body section preferably has a rotational gradient in the range of 0.25 to 1 rotations/cm in the elongated direction. Preferably, the bottom spiral section has a diameter in the range of 8 and 24 cm, the top spiral section has a diameter in the range of 4.0 and 14 cm and a length in the elongated spiraling direction in the range of 6.0 and 32 cm.
In use, hair is gathered using hands or a suitable styling device to gather hair, such as a comb or a brush. Once hair is gathered, a portion of hair is secured with the spiral hair pin. The portion of hair is secured by placing the tapered or pointed end of the spiral hair pin into the hair and twisting the hair pin in a direction opposite to the spiraling direction substantially of the hair pin, such that the hair pin passes through the hair at least twice and captures the portion hair within the inner spiral region.
In an embodiment of the method, the hair pin is held with the bottom spiral section substantially parallel to the user""s scalp and over a portion hair. Twisting the hair pin in a direction opposite to the spiraling direction of the hair pin causes the hair pin passes through the section of hair and capture the portion of hair within the inner spiral region of the hair pin.
In yet another embodiment of the method, the hair pin is held with the elongated spiraling direction substantially parallel to the user""s scalp. Twisting the hair pin in a direction substantially opposite to the spiraling direction of the hair pin causes the hair pin to pass through the hair and gather a portion of the hair within inner spiraling region of the hair pin. For the abovementioned embodiment of the method, it is preferable that hair pin spirals with four or more revolution the spiraling direction.
Once a first hair pin is secured to the hair, in accordance with the method described above, the hair pin may be garnished or decorated with any suitable attachment. Further, the spiral hair pin may be used in conjunction one more additional straight, curved or spiraling hair pins, whereby the additional hair pins are threaded through the portion of hair and between one or more rotations of the first hair pin such that the hair pins intersect.